Indonesia welcomes 3.67m tourists in first quarter

Central Statistics Agency (BPS) records show that tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2018 grew by 14.87 percent from a year earlier to 3.67 million.

BPS head of statistics distribution and services Yunita Rusanti said in Jakarta on Wednesday that the number of arrivals in March had reached 1.36 million, up 28.76 percent from March 2017.

She said the increase in tourist arrivals also reflected in room occupancy rates of star-rated hotels, which averaged 57.10 percent in March, compared to 54.70 percent in the same month of 2017.

Meanwhile, average the length of stay of tourists was 1.95 days, up by 0.06 points from March 2017.

The largest increase of incoming tourists was recorded at Supadio International Airport in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, where arrivals in March exceeded the year-earlier value by 168.74 percent, followed by Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, East Java (up 96.35 percent) and Sam Ratulangi International Airport in Manado, North Sulawesi.

Overall, the number of tourists arriving by plane increased 13.03 percent in March 2018 from March, 2017, while tourist arrivals through seaports and land borders increased 38.29 percent and 135.8 percent, respectively. (bbn)